The decision: South Korea

It was October of last year. Jason and I were in Ecuador. We were teaching English at a private school. We loved our jobs. We loved Ecuador.

One day we were talking about other possibilities for our lives (as we often do)- where we can go next, what we can do, etc. Our funds weren't looking too hot. We had spent the majority of our money on our wedding in Costa Rica 2 months earlier. And we weren't making great money in Ecuador. We had enough to get through the weeks, but we weren't saving much.

We had always had South Korea, or Japan, or China, in the back of our minds. We knew that if we wanted to make money being an English teacher, those were the countries to go to. So we had a serious discussion about it and finally decided that we should do it. We bought our tickets back to the United States shortly after that and started to apply to a ton of jobs (we wanted to see family before we went anywhere else again). We applied to a couple of jobs in Japan, Taiwan, and others- but the majority of our applications were going to South Korea.

What attracted us to South Korea, and I will be honest, is the pay. They pay well and the cost of living isn't high like Japan's. Plus, all the job listings for South Korea said they paid for your rent. Awesome. Other things that attracted us is the food (of course) and we had a friend who taught there and loved it- he had even extended his contract because he loved it so much.

To make a long story short, after multiple phone interviews, we finally had a job offer. We were- or are- excited! We met with our friend who taught there and had a long discussion about South Korea. There was nothing negative said- and it made Jason and I more excited.

The Visa process was kind of a headache, but we got it done. We've been getting e-mails from our recruiters- our plane tickets are purchased (yes- they paid for that, too!) and our apartment is ready. All we need to do now is show up.

P.S.- if you're interested in teaching English abroad, Dave's ESL Cafe is an awesome website. This is where we got our jobs! It's a great resource and I love it.